mATX vs ATX?

[FrankZap]

So I have decided to buy the exact components listed in the guides here from Amazon. It'll be either a mATX or an ATX. I'd prefer a mATX because it takes up less space, but question is whether I can fit everything into it?

I'd like to have:

+ i7 processor
+ 2 SSD's
+ 1 SATA HDD
+ Graphics card
+ Sound card
+ PCI Wifi

If I can't fit it all into a mATX, what would be some potential workaround solutions?

 

[Going Bald]

So I have decided to buy the exact components listed in the guides here from Amazon. It'll be either a mATX or an ATX. I'd prefer a mATX because it takes up less space, but question is whether I can fit everything into it?

I'd like to have:

+ i7 processor
+ 2 SSD's
+ 1 SATA HDD
+ Graphics card
+ Sound card
+ PCI Wifi

If I can't fit it all into a mATX, what would be some potential workaround solutions?

There are few if any PCI/PCIe sound cards that work with 10.11x.
Suggest an optical digital output to a converter if on-board Realtek audio is not good enough for you. See http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/c...obbyist-pro-sumer-pro-drivers-mac-os-x.12464/
Or go with a USB solution like a Turtle Beach Micro.
Count PCI/PCIe cards, then match with PCI/PCIe slots on your board. Are there enough? Then board will work.

 

[FrankZap]

Thanks. It says 4 PCI-e slots on a mATX and 7 on an ATX. However, who knows how many slots one card takes. I hear the processor can take 2 or even 4 slots?

It's a bummer the Hackingtosh seems to be so hard to function properly. With the Windows 10 being spyware disguised as an operating system, there are basically 4 almost equally shitty options:

1. Get a real Mac and pay 300% more than what it's actually worth
2. Get a Hackingtosh which most components won't work with and you don't know when it's going to break
3. Get Windows 10 and have Microsoft read all of your emails and private documents
4. Get Linux and don't have any software to work with

It's a shame.

 

[Going Bald]

Thanks. It says 4 PCI-e slots on a mATX and 7 on an ATX. However, who knows how many slots one card takes. I hear the processor can take 2 or even 4 slots?

It's a bummer the Hackingtosh seems to be so hard to function properly. With the Windows 10 being spyware disguised as an operating system, there are basically 4 almost equally shitty options:

1. Get a real Mac and pay 300% more than what it's actually worth
2. Get a Hackingtosh which most components won't work with and you don't know when it's going to break
3. Get Windows 10 and have Microsoft read all of your emails and private documents
4. Get Linux and don't have any software to work with

It's a shame.

1 you get what you pay for.
2 You do not know when the real Mac is going to break either.
3. Do you have an iPhone or an Android phone? Do you look up emails on it? Your vulnerability to being spied on is more likely to happen on your phone than on your desktop computer. The government had no problems hacking an iPhone, now did it? Or have you not followed the news lately?
4. Linux is OK for general use, but does not have the support for using it as a workstation for making $$.
As for the hardware:
Most graphics cards only plug into one PCIe slot. OTOH, they take up the space of 2 slots. So you not only need to look at the number of actual electrical connection slots, you need to look at the space between them. Not a problem on modern boards as the OEMs seldom put slots 1 and 2 close enough together to prevent 2 GPUs from being connected.

Anything in the recommended parts lists of the Buyers Guide will work with a bit of effort on your part.
Your choice.

 

[FrankZap]

1 you get what you pay for.
2 You do not know when the real Mac is going to break either.
3. Do you have an iPhone or an Android phone? Do you look up emails on it? Your vulnerability to being spied on is more likely to happen on your phone than on your desktop computer. The government had no problems hacking an iPhone, now did it? Or have you not followed the news lately?
4. Linux is OK for general use, but does not have the support for using it as a workstation for making $$.

1. Well, I have a Macbook Pro (Retina) that I bought in 2012. It's almost as bad now as the Windows 7 I had before. Freezes, lags, do automatic updates etc...everything they said Mac wasn't going to do. This is why I'm buying a new computer.

2. Very true.

3. No, I don't look at my emails on my Android. I also don't have Facebook and I never write anything that could come back to haunt me on a gmail account (or any other email account for that matter). If doing a Google search about something "private", I do it on a TOR browser behind a VPN. What differes with Windows 10 is that they can access all of your files, including everything you have offline.

I am quite sure I'll try the Hackingtosh route. But guess I'll have to skip the sound card since this wouldn't work.

 

[pastrychef]

The 2012 MacBook Pro is a very nice laptop. I think you should try to find out why there are freezes and lags and try to get it to work as it should. I'm running a MacBook from 2009 on El Capitan and although it's slow, it doesn't freeze or lag. Auto updates can be configured and turned off.

Building a hackintosh can be fairly easy or extremely troublesome. Choose your hardware wisely and do your research and your experience will be much smoother. My first hackintosh was on a computer that someone threw out and I found and I had OS X up and running within an hour.

I'm like you. I don't use any social media and my email is basically just a receptacle for receipts to online purchases.

Linux has come a long way. I still prefer the UI of OS X (actually, I really liked the OS 9 UI best) but I never had too much trouble in my limited use of Linux. There are tools available for Linux that are very helpful at times. But I agree that there are much more options in terms of apps on OS X.

 

[Stork]

I like mATX cards, and my latest one is one of the best (see my Gene build description in my signature block). Depending upon the type of PCIe slot your sound card and Wifi card take (4x or 1x), a properly designed mATX will allow all you want to install. Notice my Gene mATX has room for a "2 slot" graphics card.

 

[FrankZap]

The 2012 MacBook Pro is a very nice laptop. I think you should try to find out why there are freezes and lags and try to get it to work as it should. I'm running a MacBook from 2009 on El Capitan and although it's slow, it doesn't freeze or lag. Auto updates can be configured and turned off.

Building a hackintosh can be fairly easy or extremely troublesome. Choose your hardware wisely and do your research and your experience will be much smoother. My first hackintosh was on a computer that someone threw out and I found and I had OS X up and running within an hour.

I'm like you. I don't use any social media and my email is basically just a receptacle for receipts to online purchases.

Linux has come a long way. I still prefer the UI of OS X (actually, I really liked the OS 9 UI best) but I never had too much trouble in my limited use of Linux. There are tools available for Linux that are very helpful at times. But I agree that there are much more options in terms of apps on OS X.

Yeah I don't know what is wrong with it. But anyway, I do a lot of work in Photoshop and Adobe Audition. I really need better hardware. I'm going for at least 64gb RAM and an i7 6700k processor. I also have no use for a laptop, as I currently have two 24'' monitors connected to it.

I have copied all the components from the CustoMac Pro, just a different chassi and added sound card. But should I remove the sound card? And will Adobe Audition, Photoshop etc even work? Lots of people having trouble with sound it seems.

I like mATX cards, and my latest one is one of the best (see my Gene build description in my signature block). Depending upon the type of PCIe slot your sound card and Wifi card take (4x or 1x), a properly designed mATX will allow all you want to install. Notice my Gene mATX has room for a "2 slot" graphics card.

Nice build. Do you have a sound card in it too or are you relying on the built in one? Everything working 100%?

 

[EddyMac]

Building and running a hackintosh can be a bit trying sometimes, but I feel like it's worth the effort. I built my first Hack in 2011 and it's been amazing. Recently built a Skylake system and loving it. I have also built a couple of mini-ITX builds, one for my wife and one for my boss--both still working fine 4 years later. I used Gigabyte boards on all 4. They are the easiest boards to hackintosh with. Good luck.

 

[FrankZap]

^Thanks. What is your take on sound cards? Will they work?

Have you had any trouble running audio editing software? Wifi, bluetooth etc all works?